A 35-year-old man, who was arrested in Ernakulam district in connection with a financial fraud, died on Wednesday while undergoing treatment at the Medical College Hospital here, police said.

Shafique Thaiparambil, hailing from Kanjirappally in Kottayam district, was remanded to judicial custody after he was arrested on Monday for allegedly cheating a woman in Udayamperoor in Ernakulam district.

While his relatives voiced suspicion over his death in judicial custody, jail authorities in Ernakulam said he was admitted to the General Hospital, Ernakulam, on Tuesday after he suffered an attack of epilepsy at the facility.

Doctors referred him to Kottayam Medical College on Wednesday morning after his condition worsened, they said.

Claiming that Shafique was healthy when he was taken into custody from his residence, his relatives alleged that he died due to police torture.

Relatives also alleged that the police did not inform them about his health condition when he was admitted to the general hospital at Ernakulam.

They claimed that the police telephoned them only after his condition worsened while being treated at the government medical college hospital here.

His body has been shifted to the mortuary for post-mortem, police said.